After responding to questions posed by foreign academics at the Fulbright Research Workshop, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday was criticized by members of the public for being “out of touch with the people.”
At the event in Taipei, a foreign academic asked Ma’s opinion on what was causing the men (悶) which many Taiwanese said they were feeling, which the academic said was “a feeling of stagnation, or having no way forward.”
Ma said that he did not know of such a “widespread phenomenon,” saying that there were bound to be a variety of feelings felt by different people as Taiwan is a “very pluralistic society,” adding that the government is striving to take care of those with particular concerns and has raised social welfare spending in a bid to narrow the wealth gap.
Photo: CNA
Ma said the gap between the richest 20 percent and poorest 20 percent of families had been 6.39 times, but the government’s efforts had reduced the gap to 6.09 times. The wealth gap between individuals stands at 4.08 times, he said.
Ma concluded his talk with some comments in English.
“If you know anyone who specifically feels hen men (感到很悶), let me know. I’ll talk to them, alright?” he said.
Ma’s remarks provoked criticism.
Taiwan Adequate Housing Association president Huang Yi-chung (黃益中) said he would be very glad to talk with Ma on how men those without housing felt.
While Ma says that 85 percent of Taiwanese have their own homes, it is a figure based on family units, Huang said.
Under such a method, Huang said that although he works in Taipei and rents an apartment, the data show that he possesses a house as his registered residence is in Hsinchu, where his family owns a home.
Such a calculation method only highlights Ma’s stupidity, Huang said.
Huang also dismissed Ma’s remarks that the central government and local governments are seeking to solve the problem by building more social housing, saying that the 7,000 units of social housing comprise only 0.08 percent of total residential buildings in the nation.
Huang said the government’s policies allowing younger people to take out loans at a lower interest rate results in the young being burdened with debt for the next two to three decades to pay for a home that is over-priced as a result of property speculation.
Such policies expose young people to a potential housing market bubble, further displaying Ma’s stupidity, Huang said.
National Alliance of Parents Organizations director-general Wu Fu-pin (吳福濱) and National Federation of Teachers Unions deputy secretary-general Lo Te-shui (羅德水) said that the government’s education policies are making both parents and teachers “feel stagnated.”
Taiwan Labor Front secretary-general Son Yu-liam (孫友聯) said the nation’s economy has become sluggish and is not doing so well. Not only has Ma failed to deliver on his “6-3-3” election campaign promise, workers are also subjected to long hours and are constantly being overworked, while receiving very low wages.
Government policies continue to favor large corporations, while workers’ wages have regressed to the same level as 1999, Son said, adding that people have evidently had enough, which led to last year’s mass protests and the storming of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
“A president who says he does not know that the public is suffering from a feeling of stagnation, or having no way forward, is evidently too far removed from the public he is supposed to be serving,” Son said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat